Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hummus with artichokes and olives, aka Costco hummus

I wasn't going for a gold medal. It just happened. In less than 10 minutes. No one was more surprised than I was.

What makes this hummus the world's best? It's light and fluffy. Not too oily. And the marinated artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives throw the whole thing a little off-kilter.

Are you thinking that hummus without tahini is heretical? Yes, I'm a rebel. I prefer adding whole raw sesame seeds - tahini makes things a little gummy for my tastes. This way you get to control the amount of oil you put in.

By the way, every ingredient for this hummus is available at Costco, at least in my area. I should have named it "Costco hummus." If I were a true geek, I would have done some SEO research to figure out whether "hummus with artichokes and olives" or "world's best hummus" or "Costco hummus" would have been a more search-friendly title for this post.

Guess what? Not a geek. But you probably knew that already.

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World's best hummus with artichokes and olives

by Erika Kerekes May-15-2012

In 10 minutes you can have light, fluffy, exotic hummus. Open a few cans and make your food processor your best friend.

Ingredients

3 15-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, drained

1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained

1 lemon, zest and juice

2 Tbsp raw sesame seeds

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup cold water, or as needed to achieve light, fluffy hummus

1/8 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Put the chickpeas, olives, artichoke hearts, lemon zest, lemon juice and sesame seeds in the bowl of a food processor with the regular chopping blade. Turn on the processor. With the motor running, add the olive oil through the feed tube. Process about 20 seconds, then start adding the water. Add enough water to give the hummus a light, fluffy texture (you can open the machine and taste it to find out). Add the salt and pepper, process briefly to mix, and turn the hummus out into a bowl. Serve immediately with cut-up vegetables or pita chips.